The Justice Department said Thursday that Apple’s attempts at linking an ongoing fight over a locked iPhone to broader questions about encryption are “a diversion,” pushing back against an argument repeatedly made by the company and its supporters in Silicon Valley.
Federal prosecutors argued in a court filing that this fight is one of Apple’s own making, accusing the company of having “deliberately raised technological barriers” that are keeping the iPhone locked.
Apple and a number of other major tech firms – including Google, Facebook and Microsoft – have argued that the California case could set a dangerous precedent, one that could have a far-reaching impact on privacy in an era where personal information is increasingly protected on encrypted devices.
In its own court filings, Apple has said the FBI seeks a “dangerous power” that could impact hundreds of millions of people and be used to force them to unlock other phones in other cases.
However, the government pushed back at that argument on Thursday, saying again that the questions and requests are specific and narrow.
“Apple demands that the court should instead address the broad questions whether Apple should be required to unlock every iPhone in every instance, or whether Apple should be required to give the government the means to do so,” the Justice Department said in a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. “Those questions are not before this court.”
This latest salvo in the fight between the federal government and the technology giant come a little week before the two sides face off for oral arguments in case about whether Apple must help investigators access information on an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino attackers.
The iPhone in question was recovered after the Dec. 2 attack that killed 14 people and injured 22 others. It was given to one of the attackers in his job as a county health inspector, and while the FBI has obtained some backups taken from the phone, it has not been able to access the data stored on the device itself.
As a result, the Justice Department sought and received a judge’s order last month directing Apple to write software that would disable a feature deleting data on the phone after 10 incorrect password attempts, something Apple has said it will fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
Law enforcement groups and relatives of victims of the San Bernardino attack have sided with the FBI, arguing in favor of helping investigators access the phone, which they say could contain information on possible accomplices or other terrorists. Tech firms and other outside groups, meanwhile, have backed Apple, saying that the government is seeking to undermine security vital to protecting personal information.
The argument has played out in very public fashion in recent weeks, with a series of court filings being followed by public appearances, testimonies and open letters, all giving both sides a chance to try and shape public opinion before they attempt to persuade a judge.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Mark Berman
